DNA links man to murder

One of the victims had lived with suspect Thomas Henderson, who was arrested in Lake City on Thursday

Thomas Henderson walks through the Carroll County courthouse to his initial court appearance this morning. He faces two

first-degree murder charges for killing a

mother and son in Glidden last month.

Thomas Henderson, who has been accused of a double murder that happened last month in Glidden, was arrested Thursday at his apartment complex in Lake City. A tactical team took arrested Henderson, who did not resist.

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June 20, 2014

A knife that was apparently used to kill at least one of two homicide victims in a Glidden trailer house last month had the blood of a Lake City man who was arrested Thursday for the crimes, according to court records.

Thomas Guy Henderson, 53, was arrested in his apartment that afternoon by a tactical team of Iowa state patrolmen, Carroll County Sheriff Doug Bass said today. Henderson did not resist arrest.

He is accused of killing Tami DeVore, 48, and son Karl DeVore, 30, in Tami DeVore's home a little more than a month ago.

A neighbor discovered at least one of the bodies on May 18 when she checked the trailer house after it was unusually quiet that weekend.

The subsequent investigation by state and local law officers went on for weeks as they waited for lab results of blood found in the house, including that of the knife that apparently broke during the altercation.

DNA from some of the blood on the knife matched Henderson's, according to court records. His DNA profile was logged in California for previous criminal convictions there. Henderson was accused last year of failing to register in Iowa as a sex offender, but the charge was later dismissed and details of his alleged sex offense were not immediately available.

The knife blade and handle lay near Karl DeVore, who died on the floor near the home's entry door, his grandfather John DeVore told the Daily Times Herald.

The knife had Karl DeVore's blood on it, court records show.

Tami DeVore's body was found in her bedroom, John DeVore said. There were pools of blood on her bed and the floor, but it's unclear what weapon might have been used to kill her.

The DeVores' obituaries said Karl died first.

Bass declined to reveal the DeVores' causes of death today, but John DeVore said investigators told him that they were bludgeoned in the head to death.

The investigators initially suspected the altercation was the result of a "drug deal gone wrong," John DeVore said, but officers have declined to publicly reveal a motive.

Karl DeVore had previously lived with Henderson, said DeVore's father Mike Warnke, of Carroll.

Bass said today that there are no other suspects in the case.

Henderson made an initial appearance in court this morning, during which Magistrate Eric Neu ordered that he be held in Carroll County Jail without bail. The two first-degree murder charges he faces are each punishable by up to life in prison if he is convicted.

Henderson was silent in court except when he asked Neu to keep newspaper cameras out of the courtroom.

"I don't want my face all over the TV," Henderson said.

Neu replied: "That's the reason? Well, that's denied."

Henderson's next court appearance is set for Thursday.

"I'm relieved they caught him, but I'm still pretty devastated over it," John DeVore said today. "I can't picture someone doing this stuff to anybody. I can't imagine what goes through a person's mind."

Henderson's neighbors told the Times Herald this morning that they had heard the commotion Thursday afternoon as the tactical team sought to arrest Henderson and stepped out into the apartment building hallway to see what was happening.

"I heard a loud boom across the way and thought it was Tom's mom," Henderson's neighbor Sheila Janssen said. "I walked out, and the cops told me to get back into my apartment and stay there."

"I was just in shock and didn't know what was going on," said a neighbor who identified herself only as Carma.

Henderson's mother and brother live at the apartment complex, the neighbors said, but they declined to talk when a reporter knocked on their apartment door.

"We don't want none, dude," said a man inside the apartment.

Both neighbors said they were surprised to hear that Henderson had been charged with murders, saying that wasn't his personality.

"To me, my Tom was sweet, kind and the nicest guy you could ever meet," Carma said. "I don't know if he is guilty or not."

Neighbor Janssen concluded: "He'd do anything for anybody. I never saw a mean bone in his body.